


The Ginger Pebble and the Grumbly Cat

by Mithril_and_Acorns



Series: Pebbles Courting Pebbles [2]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Abuse of Khuzdul, Adorable Ori, Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Child!Dwalin, Cinnamon Roll Ori, Dwarf Courting, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, How Do I Tag, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Khuzdul, M/M, Oblivious Dwalin, Pebbles, Timeline What Timeline, Toddler!Ori, dwarflings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 03:27:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28736469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mithril_and_Acorns/pseuds/Mithril_and_Acorns
Summary: Ori had never known just how big and scary everything was without Dori or Nori there to hold his hand. And none of the other dwarrow even paused to stop and help the sniffling pebble. Ori couldn’t see past the big burly bodies of the grown up dwarrow, and he couldn’t push past the endless sea of giant boots and suddenly Ori wished that he had never let go of Dori’s hand!
Relationships: Bofur/Nori (Tolkien), Dwalin/Ori (Tolkien), Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: Pebbles Courting Pebbles [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2097672
Comments: 4
Kudos: 24





	The Ginger Pebble and the Grumbly Cat

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all! So here is the next in my dwarfling!company fics! this is for my OTP, Knitting Axes. I had a lot of fun writing this, but I;m not sure if this should be considered crack or not??? Any grammatical/spelling errors are intentional to try and convey a child’s speaking patterns. Any other mistakes are my own! Please Enjoy. :)

A tiny little pebble happily knitted away, fluffy green yarn tangled on chubby fingers and big brown eyes gleaming as they watched the needles in fascination. He may have taken the yarn and the needles from his big brother’s knitting basket...

Usually, the tiny dwarfling was not allowed to take things unsupervised, but he knew that Dori wouldn’t mind, not if it was for a courting gift!

Besides, Nori said that it was okay to borrow things without asking, as long as you were long gone before anyone knew that they were missing. Ori didn’t really know what that meant...because where would he go if he wasn’t home? But the boy figured that disappearing to his extra special, secret fort to make his gift was “gone” enough, wasn’t it?

As the toddler worked, he thought back to the dwarfling that the gift was meant for and Ori had to stop himself from squealing in excitement. His One was so nice, and sweet, and was absolutely wonderful! He needed something that was just as amazing as he was, and Ori was sure that this would be the most wonderful gift ever! 

His big brother Dori had been teaching the little pebble how to knit since Ori was even tinier than he was now, and he said that Ori had a natural gift for the craft! Even Nori agreed, and Nori never ever agreed with Dori! 

At first Ori had thought to make a drawing for his courting gift, since that was what Ori liked to do best. But he had already given the other boy a drawing for saving him! He couldn’t give another picture, because it would look like he wasn’t trying and his One was so nice, and great, and sweet that he just had to try his very best!

It had been really scary when Ori had lost track of Dori in the market on Trowsday. He had only let go of his brother’s hand to look at some pretty paints that the nice dwarrow dam with the shells in her braids was selling, and when he turned back his brother was nowhere to be seen. 

Ori had never known just how big and scary everything was without Dori or Nori there to hold his hand. And none of the other dwarrow even paused to stop and help the sniffling pebble. Ori couldn’t see past the big burly bodies of the grown up dwarrow, and he couldn’t push past the endless sea of giant boots and suddenly Ori wished that he had never let go of Dori’s hand!

The little boy had fallen down onto his bottom and started to cry in earnest. He was scared, and everything was too big, and his Dori would be so mad at him for not following the rules and being a good boy, and he just wanted to go home!

It was as Ori was sobbing, giant frustrated tears running down his beardless face, that his One appeared like a hero! Ori had heard a low grumbly sound, like the cat that liked to come by their house and Ori would sneak it some milk when Dori wasn’t looking. The grumbling sound kept going, and Ori felt a rough hand gently pat his head, ruffling the coarse ginger hair. 

When Ori looked up, he saw him! He was a big boy, much bigger than Ori, he must have been as big as Dori—although his brother was definitely not as muscly as this dwarfling. He had pretty grey eyes that reminded Ori of his favoritest blankie that Dori had knitted for him. It was the softest and snuggliest blankie that the boy owned and he loved when his big brother would warm it up by hanging it near the fire and then wrap the little boy up in it so he was nice and snug. 

Past the pretty eyes was a fine set of whiskers that were black like the ink Ori liked to draw with, and a great tuft of hair that was shaped like a shark’s fin that was the same color! The grumbling cat sounds finally begun to form words in the little boy’s mind and Ori heard the other ask “Laddie, are ye okay?”

And it was then that Ori relayed the entire awful tale about how he just wanted to look at the new paint, because he liked to paint. And he had never ever seen paint in that color before, and Dori didn’t hear him when he asked if they could go look at the paint stall and he had been very good and had even remembered to say please. But Dori still hadn’t stopped so Ori thought it would be okay if he let go of his hand for just a little bit so that he could go and see the pretty paints, but when he turned to look back he couldn’t find Dori! And now he was lost, and everything was too big, and the boots were so scary, and he just wanted to go home!

The bigger boy didn’t interrupt once, he just waited as Ori cried out his frustrations. All the while he kept his big strong hand in Ori’s hair, ruffling it ever so gently and Ori couldn’t help but lean into the touch and savor the comfort that it provided.

“Well,” the grumbly cat voice said, “I’ll help ye find yer Dori, alright khatadel?” And all Ori could do was look up at his savior with watery brown eyes and hug the bigger dwarfling as hard as he could. 

It had only taken a couple of minutes searching, his hero’s big strong hand carefully holding Ori’s littler one until they had found Ori’s distressed big brother. 

Dori had stood there, his usually immaculate braids frayed and unraveling and eyes worried, when his eyes caught on Ori’s bright red hair and he nearly tackled his baby brother, yelling at the boy to never worry him like that again. Ori endured Dori’s fussing, happy to be back with his brother and hugged back just as fiercely. 

After a few more moments of Dori ascertaining that his precious nadadith was okay, they both turned to the silent dwarfling standing a few feet away. Dori thanked the other boy profusely, much to his embarrassment, if his yowly grumbles were anything to go by. 

After Dori had finished thanking him, Ori had run up and hugged the bigger boy fiercely and whispered a soft “T’ank you...” into the boy’s stomach. And his hero had let out a soft huffing sound which reminded Ori of the big old tomcat that lived in the corner of their street, and simply whispered back. “O’ course bilith.” Before he ruffled Ori’s red hair, wished Dori a goodbye and disappeared in the crowd.

As soon as Ori had gotten home, he had rushed to the box where he kept his most special coloring supplies and spent nearly two hours drawing a picture that depicted his hero saving him—if Ori took some artistic license and added a dragon and some orcs into the drawing he figured that was alright. Nori always said that it was alright to be creative with the facts, and besides that, Ori’s dwarfling was so big and strong that he could probably take on six orcs with his hand tied behind his back!

Ori had pestered Dori for a full week before he was allowed to deliver his gift. His dwarfling made the same grumbly cat noise, before he turned soft eyes onto the fidgeting pebble and said “Thank ye nalkel.”

Just the thought of that soft look in the bigger dwarfling’s eyes made something in Ori’s tummy warm, like when he had a big cup of hot chocolate, and Ori began knitting even faster. The sooner his courting gift was done, then the sooner he would be able to see his grumbly cat dwarfling and the sooner he would be able to see that soft look that made Ori feel like he had had a dozen cookies!  
The needles began twisting the yarn even faster, clacking against each other furiously as the toddler powered through, heedless of the dropped stitches, or the giant knot he had left in the center of his work, or the added on stitches. He was lost in his own little bubble of happiness, warmed by the thought of a rumbling chest and soft grey blankie eyes, and he was in love. 

******  
“Oye, Dwalin it looks like yer little shadow is back!” Teased one of the other boys at the training yard. 

Dwalin blinked at the boy, wiping sweat from his eyes as he tried to figure out who he could be talking about, before he turned his head in the direction the boy indicated. 

Oh! 

Seeing the tiny little pebble with the fiery orange hair and the oversized cardigan made Dwalin remember last Trowsday when he had stumbled upon the toddler after finishing up an errand for his amad. 

The little tot had lost his brother, and something inside Dwalin’s chest had twisted painfully when he saw the tears creeping out of those big brown eyes and Dwalin don’t know why he said what he said...maybe it was how he just wanted the little boy to smile, maybe he was so distracted by that vibrant orange, or maybe it was just Dwalin’s natural fumbling with personal interactions, but a pet name slipped through his lips almost without even thinking about it. Khatadel. Orange of all Oranges. 

Dwalin could almost slap himself for how stupid that sounded. Who called someone the Orange of all Oranges!? But that wasn’t even the worst. It seemed the little boy had the special ability of pulling nonsensical endearments from the burly dwarfling in a way that no one except his amad could. 

Bilith. Beryl that is young. 

Nalkel. Penny of all pennies. 

“What are ye doing all da way o’er here abanel?” Dwalin grumbled, and internally winced. Who the hell called someone the pebble of all pebbles? Seriously? Yet Dwalin’s little ginger shadow just seemed to beam even brighter up at him, and Dwalin couldn’t help but think how adorable the little tot was with his fluffy orange hair and his chubby little cheeks and his big brown eyes. 

“Hi, Dw’lin!” His little pebble cheerfully lisped, fumbling over the vowel in Dwalin’s name and the older boy had to stop himself from cooing over how cute the little boy was. The other boys in the courtyard were apparently not as self-restrained as he was, as he could hear them all murmuring how adorable the little ginger pebble was!

“Did ye lose yer Dori again?” Dwalin asked, keeping an eye out for the scary older boy. Being one of the largest and burliest dwarflings of his age group, Dwalin wasn’t afraid of most people as a rule. After all, he was a son of Fundin, a line that has served the House of Durin since the Seven Fathers first awoke in the darkness...but a worried Dori in Big Brother Mode was scarier than any orc or dragon! 

Dwalin flinched as one particular memory surfaced, after he had “apprehended” Nori whe. He had been walking through the market square. His ears still hurt from where Dori had grabbed him...who knew such a fussy mother hen had such a strong grip!  
But it wasn’t Dori that Dwalin saw, but Nori. It seemed that he was on Pebble Patrol today, and besides him stood Bofur who was grinning brightly back at Dwalin, as though he knew something that Dwalin didn’t. Nori just looked extra murderous, eyes dark and threatening as he looked at Dwalin, although the presence of his One seemed to relax him slightly. 

More and more confused, he turned his attention back to the toddler who had steadily crept up until he was nearly standing on Dwalin’s boots. The little boy smiled up at him, the small gap between his teeth from a recently lost tooth making Dwalin’s whiskers twitch as he regarded the adorableness in front of him. 

“I made you somethings, Dw’lin!” Ori lisped out, and Dwalin had only a moment to internally aw at how sweet Ori was, when he was suddenly attacked by a fuzzy green something!

Taking the thing off of his face revealed a monstrosity of a bright nearly fluorescent green blob. Upon closer inspection, Dwalin could distinguish knots and holes in the blob, and it took him a couple of minutes to realize that it was actually yarn that had been...well the closest approximation of a toddler attempting to knit. So it was really a mess of knotted yarn and tangled thread, with the occasional gap from where chubby fingers had pushed the yarn off the needle and hadn’t picked it back up...

Dwalin must have inspecting the item far longer than he had originally thought, because he heard Ori ask in the smallest voice possible, “D-do you n-not l-like it Dw’lin?”. 

And oh no, looking down at the pebble revealed that the boy’s eyes were large and watery and nearly on the brink of tears, and his teeth were anxiously tugging on his lower lip and he was fidgeting, tiny little hands fluttering in nervous energy. And Dwalin learned he never wanted to see Ori like this ever again. 

“...love it!” Dwalin grumbled and swiftly deposited it on his head. 

Ori looked up at him with uncertainty, bright brown eyes looking up at him, before the little boy giggled. “No Dw’lin! It no goes on your head! It’s a scarf!”

Dwalin could feel himself blushing and in the background he heard Nori snorting and Bofur’s bellowing guffaws but he couldn’t bring himself to care as he took the scarf off of his head and carefully wrapped it around his neck. “...o’course barukel. And it is the most wonderful scarf that I ‘ave ever seen.”

The little boy squealed at the words, and Dwalin internally smiled at how happy Ori looked with that big beaming smile, until he suddenly got a face full of fluffy ginger hair as the pebble launched himself up at Dwalin. 

“I brings you da next gift later, kay amr’ml’ime.” Ori whispered, before giving placing a small chuu on Dwalin’s whispered cheek. 

Before Dwalin could even comprehend what happened, Ori skipped away, snagging his big brother’s hand and dragging him off towards parts unknown. 

In the background, the other boys were laughing hysterically at the little pebble’s brazen show of affection for the burliest dwarfling in Ered Luin. 

And Dwalin? Dwalin fingered the green monstrosity on his neck, feelings the tangles and knots, and all he could do was smile. Amrâlimê huh?

He made himself a promise that his brother would never hear of this. Balin would never let him live it down that a pebble had been the one to start courting him.

**Author's Note:**

> It is now my head canon that Dwalin comes up with the dorkiest pet names. Thanks to the Dwarrow Scholar for the khuzdul dictionary. If there are any errors please let me know. I hope you guys enjoyed this fic, please leave kudos and comments if you did! :)
> 
> Quick Khudzul Definitions:
> 
> Khatadel—Orange of all Oranges (like the color not the fruit)  
> Bilith—Beryl that is young   
> Nalkel—Penny of all pennies  
> Barukel—Axe of all axes   
> Amrâlimê—my love


End file.
